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Sunday, July 20, 2014

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog)

I've gotten a little out of order with my Zauggs. Daniel, last week's post, is really younger than Magdalena however I had just had to post about my find at the Indianapolis library while it was more recent. So, now going back I'll look at Madgelana this week.

In the 1870 census, the family is shown with the following children:
Mary 14,
Louisa 13,
Elizabeth 10,
John 7,
Emma 4, and
Henry 1. In 1880, 5 of the 6 children are still at home: Louisa 23,
Elizabeth 22,
John 17,
Emma 14,
and Henry 11. The oldest daughter, Mary, is now married to William Shifferly and they have a young son, Frederic.

Some trees list another child for Magdalena and Nicholas - Christ born in 1860 and died in 1863. On the 1910 census, it shows that Magdalena has 7 children, 5 now living (one of the 6 children above, Emma, having died in 1880) so there is certainly room for another child. Also, the Zaugg book (above) lists Christ as one of the children.

I haven't been able to locate the family on the 1860 census although I don't believe I'd find this child if the birth date given of Dec-1860 is correct.

I find it interesting that Henry Wahley remembers his grandfather's name but not his grandmother's. Jacob Zaugg died a little over 8 years PRIOR to his wife. Henry would have only been about 4 when his grandfather died and 12 when his grandmother died.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

I know that we like to make fun of Ancestry's little shaking leaf, but it really cleared up a mystery for me recently. Actually, it was a mystery that I had even forgotten about. In an old box of pictures that my Grandma Ritchie gave me - many of which were picture of my Grandpa Ritchie's family - was this adorable picture. As you can see, it was taken in Scotland. On the back, in my Grandma's handwriting it says, "Bill & Hildegard". At one point she and I had gone through these pictures because "Ritchie" is added in my handwriting. I didn't think to ask her how it was possible that Bill & Hildegarde, both born in Cleveland, Ohio happened to have their pictures taken in Scotland. I have to admit that at the time I was so wrapped up in names - either added them to my genealogy or making sure I knew who was in all the pictures - that I never asked any OTHER questions.
So, many, MANY years later I came across this picture and couldn't figure it out.

I put the picture away and forgot about it - totally forgot about it. Then, a few weeks ago I was going through my hints - the shaking leaves - and got a hint for Hildegarde Ritchie. The hint said it was an arrival record in 1905. Well, I KNEW that was wrong because Hildegarde was born in this country. Still, it's not that common a name, and I always like to look at a hint before I dismiss it, so I clicked on the actual record. I was so surprised to see a record for Mary, William and Hildegarde Ritchie - with both of the children noted as "US born". So this was "my" Hildegarde! I never knew that my great-grandmother went back to Scotland to visit her family.

Seeing this tickled something in my mind and I remembered seeing this picture - it all came together. I know this is hardly a stunning discovery - or even a brick wall. But it was a proof that the names on the back of this picture were correct and it also gave me a look into the life of this family that I hadn't known. Mary Benzie was only 17 when she came to the USA. Here she was, 10 years later, coming back from a visit to her parents in Scotland.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog)

Recently on Facebook there was a conversation about someone ending up
researching “ …the 2nd wife of the husband of my 1st cousin 4x removed.”
I replied that I had recently had an inquiry about someone in my tree
and when I asked Ancestry to calculate the relationship it got - "grand
nephew of wife of
2nd cousin 3x removed." Someone else commented
“Want to know who the brother in law of the grandfather of my uncle’s
wife's first husband is?”

In my search for Daniel Zaugg, I ended up going down a similar path and found something in a surprising place.

Daniel has been rather elusive in terms of pinning him down in any particular place. I do know that he married in Wayne Co, Ohio in 1864 as we see in this marriage record (Daniel & Elizabeth are shown on the bottom left):

In spite of that, I don't readily find him in the 1860 census in that area. He is not living with his parent and his 2 younger siblings.

While I still haven't pinned down his specific whereabouts, I did find something on my recent trip to Indianapolis that is in agreement with the page from the Zaugg book. I only found it because I tend to look at those "barely connected" people.

I was looking in the
index of Standard History of Adams and Wells Counties Indiana vol II.I didn’t expect to
find Daniel, but I did know that his wife had re-married and her second husband
was a Civil War veteran.I thought
someone like that might be mentioned so looked for “Stepler.”I didn’t find an entry for John but did find
one for William so I took a quick look.And there, in an entry for my 1st cousin 4 times removed’s
wife’s second husband’s son I found a mention of Daniel Zaugg.In the part of the article about William’s
father John we read, “He married Mrs. Elizabeth (Shifferley) Zaugg, who was
born in Wayne County, Ohio.She was the
widow of Daniel Zaugg, who died in early life, leaving her with three children,
Phillip, Lucy and Emma.”

Certainly not earth-shattering, but it was a fun discovery at the end of my trip.

This will probably be a short entry as Frederich is pretty straight-forward in terms of where he lived and what he did.

He came with the family to the United States in 1853, when he was 21. The family came to Wayne County, Ohio and that's where Frederich married, farmed and raised a family.

I've been able to easily identify him in each census after his arrival through 1910. In 1860 he is listed as a shoemaker but after that he begins farming and stays in Sugar Creek Township for each census thereafter. His son John lives near him and later his younger son Levi is also living near him.

The only anomaly I found was on his death certificate where his son lists his father's father as "Christ Zaugg" and not Jacob. Jacob would have died when John was about 14 so this is not what I would have expected. It's also interesting that he lists his father's mother as "Unknown". Anna Stetler Zaugg lived until 1885 (John would have been in his mid-twenties at the time) so clearly this is someone that John should have know. Anna was last living with her son Jacob's family in 1880.

Jacob's family was also living in Wayne County - in Salt Creek Township which is very near where Frederich, and also John lived.

I have searched Wayne County census records and don't find multiple Frederich Zauggs of a similar age. I feel relatively confident that this is "my man" but I can't explain why John wouldn't have been able to correctly identify his grandparents.